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Getting them to Come Back: Strategies for Retaining and Engaging Participants
Selma Caal, Brigitte Vaughn, and Isaac Castillo
The Office of Adolescent Health
January 30, 2013
Who are the Presenters?
Research Scientist Child Trends
Senior Research & Policy Analyst Child Trends
Senior Research Scientist Child Trends
Selma Caal Brigitte Vaughn Isaac Castillo
Why We’re Here: Webinar Objectives On today’s call, we’ll provide you with:
• Tips and strategies to retain and engage program participants according to adolescent age, setting and target population;
• An understanding of “real-time monitoring,” and how
to effectively apply this practice to improve retention; • Ideas for how programs can use texting, Facebook,
Twitter, and Four-Square to improve retention and adolescent engagement.
Sources of Information • Review of evaluations of
various types of youth programs with different target populations;
• Preliminary findings from six focus groups with Latino youth ages 15-17; and
• Discussions with select OAH grantees
Our Guest Grantees Suzanne Markoe Hayes, Ph.D. Evaluation and Program Development Volunteers Of America, Greater Los Angeles Danette McLaurin Glass CHAMPS Project Recruiter More Than Conquerors, Inc.
Why is Retention Important?
• Having a viable participant retention plan is key component of any program
• Retention rates have
implications for program success
Real-Life Retention Challenges
Important Retention Concepts • Transportation
• Flexibility
• Engaging activities
• Engaging staff
• Providing incentives
• Accommodating to youth’s circumstances
How, Where, and When: Logistics and Retention
• Participants have to get there first! Take a poll and find out their transportation methods. Once assessed: – Ensure youth have safe means of arrival/departure – If needed:
• Facilitate carpooling • Provide tokens • Provide transportation
• Location, location, location: make it accessible and consistent – In the community – In their school – Close to transportation hubs
How, Where, and When: Logistics and Retention
Flexibility is key. – During an orientation (and consistently throughout!)
ask about availability. Adjust accordingly. – Be as flexible as possible with program days and times – Provide make-up sessions and, if possible, drop-in
sessions. One size doesn’t fit all. Methods vary based on:
– Age: Challenges/Barriers according to participant age. – Program setting: School, After-School, Clinic, and
Community.
Voting with Their Feet: Youth Engagement Tactics
Facilitate engagement between participants
– Offer “chill days” – Smaller groups facilitate a more
intimate social setting – Encourage participants to develop
friendships within the group – Encourage friends to participate
Keep it Lively. Some ideas: – No talking heads: give
opportunities to ask questions – Bring in guest speakers – Group discussions – Age-appropriate games
Voting with Their Feet: Youth Engagement Tactics
It’s no secret: Dynamic staff are key to retention success. What does it take? Characteristics of engaging staff include being:
• Caring and respectful • Responsive • Enjoy being involved in activities • Listen openly and suspend judgment • Manages group dynamics effectively • Knowledgeable • Represent youth’s background and ethnicity
Involve youth to help in the hiring process and/or ask participants what they need in an instructor.
Incentives for Retention: What Works A range of options:
• Community service hours • Internship hours • Monetary incentives • Food and refreshments • Field trips
Again, no one size fits all. Adjust incentives according to:
• Setting • Age • Group size
Incentives for Retention: What Works
Clearly communicate to your participants at the beginning and throughout the program:
• Attendance expectations
• The type of incentives you will provide
Real-Life Retention Successes
Critical! Real Time Monitoring Simple strategies to implement RTM on a consistent basis:
• Keep attendance records • They can help you identify attendance patterns possibly
linked with activities or facilitator • Call participants immediately after a missed session
• Be non-judgmental, express genuine concern, and gently ask why the participant was absent
• Identify patterns of youth missing sessions and use this information to solve the problem
• Be open to ongoing adjustments to reflect RTM results
Meeting Them Where They Are: How Texting and Social Media can Help Retention
In this portion of the webinar, we’ll look at: •How many TPP grantees are currently using texting or social media to retain participants
•Teens’ access to mobile phones and regular Internet access
•Lessons learned and take-aways from adolescent health programs’ use of texting, Facebook, Twitter, and FourSquare, and opportunities for TPP programs to retain participants through these mediums
Just Remember…. • If social media was hard, it
wouldn’t be so popular!
•Social (& mobile) media are here to stay
•Constant evolution: Facebook this morning, Instagram this afternoon
•Listen, listen, listen
•Be yourself!
Step-By-Step Tip Sheets
1. Rules to Live By: Using Social Media to Engage Youth
2. Create a Social Media Policy in Ten Steps
3. Best Practices for Facebook and Twitter
4. Getting Started on Foursquare
Tell Us! Does Your Program Staff: Currently text with your participants? Use social media (Facebook, FourSquare, Twitter) to connect with participants?
A Love Affair: Teens and the Internet • 95% of American teens are
online.
• Demographic skew: 97% and 95% of white and black adolescents are online, respectively; this figure stands at 88% for Hispanic teens.
• Socioeconomic equity: Almost all higher income teens are online, and so are 93% of teens living in households making <$30,000.
77% of all teens ages 12 to 17 have a cell phone. •Just over half have a “regular” cell phone; • About one quarter have a smart phone
(which lets them go online); •23% of teens don’t have a cell phone at all.
The Ubiquitous Cell Phone
Less Talk, More Texts Texting is an extension of engagement: Teens will respond to texting—to any communication—from adults they feel care about them.
Texting lessons learned: • Texting in; E-mail out. • Need them to be somewhere? Text them! • Texts are effective in enforcing healthy habits
Texting
Texting Take Aways • Reinforce health messages
– No more than two a day – Use an active voice – Recommend specific actions – Come from a reputable source
• Support and remind, on a mass or individual level
• Increase class engagement
• Leverage additional resources
Texting
*Be careful of cost considerations! Take a poll.
The Juggernaut: Facebook 93% of all teen social media users are on the site.
Lessons Learned & Takeaways • Ask questions and listen to the answers • Communicate key messages that
resonate. • Keep it fresh! New content = more
engagement. • Use youth ambassadors.
Tweeting for Success Twitter use has historically been low among teens – but it’s growing fast. Lessons Learned & Takeaways • Twitter = the new “message board” • Encourage students to tweet questions about
logistics or other q’s • Support learning by tweeting main lesson
points from lessons, host a Twitter chat, Etc.!
A location based social networking website. This application can help you keep more teens participating in your programs!
Four Square
What on earth is Four-Square?
FourSquare Lessons Learned & TakeAways • Reward consistency!
• Augment program records
• Need to pay attention to important privacy concerns.
• More effective for older youth and smartphone users.
FourSquare
Going for It: Main Takeaways for Using Texting and Social Media for Retention
• Establish a plan detailing permissions and frequency
• Just go for it – the learning curve is steep, but quick
• Use well-networked students, with influence among their peers, to help show you the way
• Multiple touches work best for retention: consider implementing ALL of these mediums to increase success!
• Don’t just put it up and forget it: think video posts, twitter chats, contests, and more!
Register! Setting-Specific Calls
Talk with other OAH grantees about retention
challenges at calls scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday,
February 5th and 6th
